The BFI has made a further 11 awards through its UK Global Screen Fund, boosting global opportunities for the UK’s independent screen sector. Financed through the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the awards allocate over £1.7 million through the fund’s International Co-production strand, supporting UK producers to work as partners on international co-productions and help create new global projects. To date the strand has now awarded over £8.1 million to 51 co-productions.
This latest round of awards sees the UK co-producing with 15 territories and will be the first time the fund has supported collaborations with Morocco and Switzerland. The funding will also support partnerships with Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and USA.
The awards, in the form of non-recoupable grants, support UK independent companies as minority co-producers for feature films of all genres, and as majority and minority co-producers for TV animation and documentary projects. This latest funding round supports nine feature films, including one documentary, plus two TV projects, including one documentary and one animation and one documentary. It also sees three of the awards granted under a ‘fast-track’ process, introduced this year for productions eligible for an earlier funding decision, in order to capture as many projects as possible.
Creative Industries Minister Sir Chris Bryant said: “Whether you watch great British movies on a silver screen or a smartphone, the UK’s independent film and TV trailblazers showcase the UK to the world, and we are 100% committed to supporting them so they can grow their business overseas and reach new global audiences. Thanks to our investment through the UK Global Screen Fund, these 11 companies will get the support they need to co-produce with other countries and attract investment, while giving a boost to the careers of our talented filmmakers.”
Denitsa Yordanova, BFI Head of UK Global Screen Fund and International Funds, said: “The UK Global Screen Fund is so proud to have awarded 51 international co-productions to date, supporting partnerships with 32 territories and backing the UK independent screen sector to realise its global ambitions and reach new audiences. This latest slate of projects, spanning film and television across documentary, animation and fiction, is such an exciting mix, each collaboration promising to resonate internationally, with some already well on their way to achieving recognition on the international festival circuit and forging success in the global marketplace.”
Eleanor Emptage, Producer at Tara Films, said: “We at Tara Films are thrilled to have been awarded UK Global Screen Fund co-production support for Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story. As a leading Irish author, who lived in the UK and had a huge cultural impact in Ireland, the UK and beyond, Edna’s story provided an organic co-production opportunity, that may not have come to fruition, without this pivotal funding.”
Trevor Birney, Producer and Founder of Fine Point Films, said: “Put simply, Saipan wouldn’t have happened in 2024 if it wasn’t for the support of the UK Global Screen Fund. The grant helped cement the co-production with Wild Atlantic in Dublin and gave our partners that extra little bit of confidence at a critical moment. We’re delighted to have the fund as our partner, knowing that having the team’s support and guidance will help make this a very special film.”
Productions to receive UK Global Screen Fund International Co-production awards are:
Behind the Palm Trees, a minority UK co-production with France, Morocco and Belgium made under the European Convention. The UK producer is Tristan Goligher at The Bureau who will co-produce with French Tessalit (Jean Bréhat) and Furyo Films (Emma Binet), Belgian Novak Productions (Olivier Dubois) and Morocco’s Agora Films (Souad Lamriki). The feature film, which will be directed by Moroccan Meryem Benm’Barek, is set in Tangier and follows a young man, for whom things are going smoothly until meeting a French woman caught up in the glamorous social life of the wealthy expatriate community.
Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story, a minority UK co-production with Ireland made under the European Convention. The UK producer is Eleanor Emptage of Tara Films, who will co-produce with Ireland’s Claire McCabe and Sinead O’Shea of SOS Productions. Executive Producers are Barbara Broccoli, Katie Holly, and Kathryn Ferguson for Tara Films, Niamh Fagan for Screen Ireland and Jack Oliver for Sky Arts. The documentary feature film, which will receive its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival in September, is directed by Sinéad O’Shea and presents a portrait of one of the world’s greatest and most charismatic writers, Irish author Edna O’Brien. Oscar nominated actress Jessie Buckley narrates the personal journals of Edna O’Brien which are being made public for the first time. This project was fast-tracked under the UK Global Screen Fund co-production strand.
Dust, a Belgium, UK, Poland and Greece co-production. The UK producers are James Watson and Mikko Mäkelä of Bêtes Sauvages who will co-produce with Dries Phlypo of Belgium’s A Private View, Joanna Szymańska and Krystyna Kantor of Poland’s Shipsboy and Giorgos Karnavas of Greece’s Heretic. The film, directed by Belgian Anke Blondé, is set in Belgium in the spring of 1999 and depicts 24 hours in the lives of two fraudulent entrepreneurs who get caught in the eye of a massive storm, as they try to come to terms with each other, their loved ones and themselves.
Everybody Digs Bill Evans, an Ireland, UK, Norway and USA co-production made under the European Convention. The UK producer is Janine Marmot of Hot Property who will co-produce with Ireland’s Cowtown Pictures (Alan Maher) with support from Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Norway’s Eye Eye Pictures (Dyveke Bjorkly Graver and Andrea Ottmar) and the USA’s Bona Fide Productions (Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa). The feature, based on the novel ‘Intermission’ by Owen Martell, is written by Mark O’Halloran and directed by Grant Gee, telling the story of American jazz pianist Bill Evans, one of the most influential and tragic figures in 20th-century music.
Learning to Breathe Under Water, an Ireland, UK and Netherlands co-production made under the European Convention. The UK producers are Jack Tarling of Shudder Films and Welsh-based Nan Davies of One Wave Films who will co-produce with Patrick O’Neill of Ireland’s Wildcard and Hanneke Niens of Dutch Key Film. The feature, which will be directed by Rebekah Fortune, is a comedy drama about an eccentric artist and his son whose lives are uplifted by the arrival of a Bulgarian au pair.
Miss Pirie and Miss Woods, a Germany, UK and Switzerland co-production made under the European Convention. UK producer Paul Welsh of Edge City Films will co-produce with majority German producer Bettina Brokemper of Heimatfilm and Switzerland’s Karin Koch of DV Film Productions. This period feature film set in 1810, based on the book ‘Scotch Verdict’ written by Lillian Faderman, will be directed by Germany’s Sophie Heldman, shooting largely in Scotland and featuring UK actress and debut screenwriter Flora Nicolson in a leading role.
Piripenguins, a UK majority TV animation project with Italy for BBC and RAI. The animated children’s series, created and series directed by Massimo Fenati, will follow a fabulously funny colony of penguins enjoying life to the full on a remote iceberg floating somewhere in the ocean. The UK executive producer is Tess Cuming of Eaglet Films who is working alongside Italy’s Pedro Citaristi and Lucia Geraldine Scott of Red Monk, also partnering with Scotland’s Sueann Rochester for Wild Child Animation. This project was fast-tracked under the UK Global Screen Fund co-production strand as an unofficial co-production.
Ring Road, directed by Laura Scrivano, tells the story of a photographer travelling around Iceland with her partner, who unexpectedly ends up on the run with a hitchhiker’s baby, forcing her to confront her own feelings about parenthood and pushing her to the very edge of survival. A minority co-production, the UK producer is Helen Jones of Silver Salt Films.
Rosebushpruning, a minority UK co-production with Italy, Germany and Spain made under the European Convention. The UK producer is Rachel Dargavel of CryBaby who will co-produce with Italian Kavac Film (Simone Gattoni) and German The Match Factory (Viola Fuegen) and Surfilm (Andreas Wentz). The feature, written by Greek screenwriter Efthimis Filippou and directed by Brazilian Karim Aïnouz, is a modern adaptation of Fists in the Pocket. The official longline is: a modern answer to a very old question, what would you do for love? This project was fast-tracked under the UK Global Screen Fund co-production strand.
Saipan, a minority UK co-production with Ireland made under the European Convention. The UK producer is Trevor Birney of Northern Ireland based Fine Point Films and Olly Butler who will co-produce with Ireland’s Wild Atlantic (Macdara Kelleher, John Keville and Eoin Egan). The feature film, which will be directed by Northern Irish duo Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn and is set to star Steve Coogan and Éanna Hardwicke, tells the story of the infamous bust-up between the Irish football team’s captain and manager, just days before the World Cup in Japan.
The Titan Disaster (working title), a UK and Canada co-production made under the Canada-UK bilateral co-production treaty. The UK producer is Renegade Stories who will co-produce with Canadian Galafilm in Quebec alongside Discovery Channel USA, CBC in Canada and ZDF in Germany. The Executive Producers are Alan Hayling and Arnie Gelbart. Exploring the major mysteries behind the tragedy that captured the world’s attention when it took the lives of five people in the North Atlantic in 2023, this documentary TV project for BBC Two and iPlayer, will include never-before seen footage of Titan’s final successful dive to Titanic and Stockton Rush’s last interview recorded for mainstream TV.
